Grades from Kansas State’s victory over Texas Tech and a look ahead to Iowa State
The Kansas State football team stayed undefeated in conference play with a 37-28 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It was far from a perfect game for the Wildcats, but they made more than enough big plays to win.
With the win, K-State (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) remained on top of the league standings with a road trip to Iowa State up next.
Now, let’s look back on the action from Saturday and hand out a few awards and grades. We also look ahead to next week’s game against the Cyclones.
Play of the game
Adrian Martinez has rushed for seven touchdowns over the past two weeks, but his 69-yard sprint to the end zone against Texas Tech was his best of all.
He showed great poise while making his way through a hole at the line of scrimmage. Then he showed tremendous speed when he escaped into the open field.
The Nebraska transfer out ran every defender by a wide margin and ended up crossing the goal line at the same time as Deuce Vaughn.
Player of the game
Felix Anudike-Uzomah. The Kansas State defensive end was a monster.
Not only did he give the Wildcats three sacks and force a fumble, he disrupted several other plays by putting pressure on Texas Tech quarterback Donovan Smith. Afterward, Anudike-Uzomah said the Red Raiders’ offensive line double-teamed on all but one play.
He simply could not be stopped.
Stat of the game
Two. The Wildcats had a pair of players rush for 170 yards on Saturday.
Deuce Vaughn rushed for 170 yards on 23 carries and Adrian Martinez had 171 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries.
The Wildcats averaged 8.8 yards per run.
Quote to note
“This was a really tough football game. I’m so proud of the guys’ resolve.” - Chris Klieman.
Grades
Offense: B. The Wildcats have found their identity on offense running behind Adrian Martinez and Deuce Vaughn. They might be the best rushing duo in the entire country. But passing remains an issue. K-State struggled at times to pick up blitzes against Texas Tech, which led to five punts and a fumble.
Defense: B. Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Khalid Duke both had three sacks. Nate Matlack and Robert Hentz both recovered fumbles. Julius Brents and Austin Moore each came up with interceptions. There was no shortage of big plays from K-State on defense in this game. It needed all of them with Texas Tech gaining 473 yards.
Special Teams: B+. Chris Tennant no longer seems to be having issues. The K-State kicker connected on all three of his field goals on Saturday. Ty Zentner also twice pinned Texas Tech inside its own 20 with quality punts.
Coaching: B. The Wildcats always seem to have a coaching advantage against the Red Raiders. That is one big reason why they have dominated this series.
Next Up
The Wildcats will try to stay on top of the Big 12 standings when they head to Iowa State for a 6:30 p.m. game that will be televised on ESPNU next week.
Farmageddon will be interesting this season.
The Cyclones (3-2, 0-2) are coming off back-to-back losses against Baylor and Kansas. They easily could have beaten the Jayhawks on Saturday but lost 14-11 with kicker Jace Gilbert missing three field goals.
Matt Campbell has Iowa State playing strong on defense. But its offense has been questionable all season. The Cyclones have the best scoring defense in the Big 12, allowing 14.4 points per game. Their offense is at the other end of the spectrum, averaging a Big 12 low 26 points per game.
Oddsmakers think it will be a close game. The look ahead betting line for K-State at Iowa State favored the Wildcats by only 1.5 points.
This story was originally published October 2, 2022 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Grades from Kansas State’s victory over Texas Tech and a look ahead to Iowa State."